Bottle filling apparatus



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BOTTLE FILLING APPARATUS Filed March 21, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 SIDNEY ROSE/V INVENTOR.

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BOTTLE FILLING APPARATUS Filed March 21, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2.

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' SIDNEY ROSE waltz/u United States Patent 3,047,033 BOTTLE FILLING APPARATUS Sidney Rosen, 4119 Fordleigh Road, Baltimore 15, Md. Filed Mar. 21, 1960, Ser. No. 16,403

Claims. (Cl. 141-284) This invention relates generally to bottle filling apparatus and specifically to 'an arrangement for bottom-filling containers with liquids which have a tendency to foam upon pouring.

In fluid packaging industries, the formation of foam by certain liquids is a costly problem. Either the fluid charge rate to the container must be reduced or considerable loss of fluid must be sufiered due to overflow of foam.

As any bartender knows, the formation of a head of foam on a glass of effervescent beverage can be limited by immersing the discharge nozzle just under the surface and maintaining it so in the liquid as it rises in the glass. Manual manipulation of filling nozzles is not practiced in modern industry.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide an automatically controlled fluid filling arrangement which charges containers with eflervescent fluids with a minimum of foaming.

Another object of this invention-is to provide a filler nozzle level control mechanism which is adjustable for various sized containers and which automatically is initiated by the positioning of the container to simultaneously fill the container and maintain the fill nozzle at the most efficient liquid filling level.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a control circuit for synchronizing the operation of a filling pump and the position of a filling nozzle while a container is being filled thereby.

These and other objects and attendant advantages of this invention will become more readily apparent and understood from the accompanying specification and drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a bottle filling apparatus incorporating features of the present invention and illustrating certain of its elements in a full up position;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of a bottle filling apparatus quite similar to FIG. 1 but showing the various elements in a full down position;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the bottle filling apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a horizontal section taken on line 44 of FIG. 2 with certain of the elements appearing in elevation;

FIG. 5 is a vertical section taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 1 with certain of the elements appearing in elevation; and

FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration of the bottle filling apparatus of the present invention along with a schematic showing of a pumping arrangement with which the apparatus would normally be associated.

Referring now to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings, there is shown generally a bottle filling apparatus 10 which consists of a bottle sensing assembly 12 and a nozzle actuating assembly 14.

The bottle sensing assembly 12 as shown best in FIGS.

I l to 4, consists'of a pair of spaced slotted ways 16 which are secured to the upper surface of a base plate 18. A pair of. columns 22, which'are spanned by a bar 24, are adjustably mounted to the ways 16 by means of thumbscrews 20.

The bar 24 is made adjustable vertically by means of thumbscrews 26 in order to accommodate bottles of various heights, whereas the horizontal adjustment of columns 22 provided for by thumbscrews and slotted ways 16 permits the filling of bottles 46 of various diameters.

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The bar 24 has a plate 30 fixed to its upper edge, by screws 28, which is provided with a pair of V-shaped bottle centering notches 3-2, shown best in FIG. 3. Somewhat below the bar 24, a second bar 34 is adjustably secured by thumbscrews 36 to the columns 22.

As best illustrated in FIG. 4, the bar 34 has a pair of slotted plates 40 fixed to its upper edge, by means of screws 38, each plate 40 of which supports one of a pair of series-connected bottle-sensing rotary microswitches 42. Thenormally open microswitches 42 are closed by spring wire contactors 44 when a pair of bottles 46 are placed within the V-notches 32.

A V-notched plate 48, very much like plate 30, is secured to the lower edge of bar 34. The plate 48 has a W-shaped member 52 suspended from its undersurface, by means of fasteners 50, whose function it is to support contactors 44against distortion should an operator inadvertently place a bottle 46 on top of them rather than against them. The microswitches 42 are protected from drippings of the fluid by a channel-shaped shield 41 whose forward flange 43 is fastened by screws to the forward wall of bar 34. V

The nozzle-actuating assembly 14, as shown best in FIGS. 1, 2, 3, and 5, comprises a drive unit 54 which consists of an electric motor 56 and a gear reduction unit 58. An output shaft 60 of the gear reduction unit 58 carries a large cam 62 at its far end and a smaller cam 64 on its near end, as best viewed in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The cam 62 engages and drives a lever 66 which is secured approximately midway of its ends by a pivot pin 68 to a pair of rocking fulcrum links 70. The links 70 are rotatably fixed at their lower ends by a pin 72 to a fitting 74 which is secured to the base plate 18 by bolts 76.

The lever 66 is provided with a notch 78 at its lower edge into whichis secured a replaceable wear plate 82 by cap screws 80. The left-hand end of lever 66 is secured through a yoke 84 to the lower end of a sleeve 88 by pins 86, which sleeve 88 is arranged to reciprocate vertically on a post 90.

The post 90 is welded to a footplate .92, which is secured, in turn, to the base plate 18 by cap screws and nuts 94. A nozzle bracket assembly 96 is adjustably clamped to the upper end of sleeve 88. Nozzle bracket assembly 96 is provided with a pair of V-blocks 98, each of which adjustably secures one of a pair of tubular fill nozzles 100.

It can now be noted from an examination of FIG. 1 that counterclockwise rotation of cam 62 will cause a comparatively rapid fall of lever 66 during the first quarter revolution of cam 62, thereby lowering the sleeve 88 and causing the nozzles 100 to be introduced into the bottles 46, as shown best in FIG. 2. As will be described in more detail subsequently, filling of the bottles 46 would begin at this point.

Further rotation of the cam 62 will slowly withdraw the nozzles 100 just in advance of the rising' level of the liquid, to the position shown'in FIG. 1. The weight of the nozzles 100 and supporting equipment is partially offsetby a slidable counterweight 112 on the right end of lever 66. f

As best illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 5, a length of angle 104 is attached by screws 102 to the lever 66. The function of angle 104 is to engage a contactor 106 on a microswitch 108 when the lever 66 reaches a full down position.

As shown in FIG. 6, the actuating of microswitch 108 initiates the actuation of a pump drive motor 110 which is contained within an associated pumping apparatus 121. The smaller cam 64 is formed with a lobe 114, its function being to contact a roller 116 of a microswitch 118 when the lever 66 reaches a full up position. The actuation of microswitch 118 cuts off power to the arma- It should be noted that most of the previously, described 7 elements of the nozzle actuating assembly 14 are tied together at a generally common point so as to form an' integral unit, thereby maintaining the proper relationship between the various elements when adjusting the stroke of the nozzle 100.

The common point of attachment is a grooved block 122, which can best be seen in FIG. 5. The block 122 can be locked anywhere along the length of a ways bar 124 by a cap screws 126. The Ways bar 124 is fixed to the base plate 18 by cap screws and nuts 128.

The drive unit 54 is mounted directly on the block 122 by screws 130. The microswitch 108 is secured to a vertical plate 1'32 by screws 134. The plate 132 is, in turn, secured at its base 133 by screws 136 to a horizontal plate 138 which finally is secured through its flange 142 to block 122 by means of screws 140.

MicrosWi-tch 118 is secured to a sidewall of a shield 144,'which, in turn, is suitably secured to an extension bar 146, which finally is fastened to the block 122 by screws 148 and 126. The bar 146 is formed integrally with a laterally extending pointer 150'.

Thebase plate 18 is engraved with calibration marks 151,152, and 153, which cooperate with pointer 150 to assist in adjusting the stroke of nozzles 100. Movement of the nozzle actuating assembly 14 to the left will shorten the stroke of nozzles 100. Conversely, movement to the right of the nozzle actuating assembly 14 will lengthen the stroke of nozzles 100. The indicia. engraved beside the calibration marks 151, 152 and 1 52 indicate in inches the stroke of the nozzles 100 available at each calibration.

A description of a full cycle of operation of the inven: tion will now be given. FIG. 1 illustrates the-position of the various elements at the completion of a previous cycle, a new cycle is initiated by placing a pair of bottles 46 into centering notches 32, as shown in FIG. 3, thereby closing series-connected switches 42 and thus actuating a relay (not shown) within a timer 154, as illustrated in FIG. 6. a

The timer 1154-imparts an impulse, which bypasses the resistance 120, through the relay (not shown), of suflicient duration to cause the motor, 56 to rotate a distance great enough to dislodge the lobe 1-14 from the roller 116, thereby allowing the pole of switch 118 to move to the position opposite that shown in FIG. 6.

The resistance 120 is now bypassed for the remainder of the cycle, and the motor 56 continues rotation thereby causing the cam 62 to lower the lever 66.

When lever 66 reaches its lowermost position, the

7 switch 108 then becomes actuated by the angle 104,

thereby energizing the motor 110 which will then drive a pair'of piston pumps 156 to cause the liquid or fluid to flow into the bottles 46 through a pair of lines 158 and nozzles 100.

The motor 56 continues to rotate, thereby withdrawing nozzles 100 justv in advance of the increasing level of liquid or fluid in the bottles 46. As the lever 66 continues upwardly, the contactor 106 of switch 108 will be released, thereby de-energizing motor 110 and discontinuing the flow of liquid.

,When the lever 66 returns to its uppermost position, the lobe -114 of cam 64 will have returned the pole of switch 118 to the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, thereby restoring resistance 120 across the armature of motor 56 and stopping further rotation thereof.

Obviously, many other modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is, therefore, to be understood that Within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed is:

1.1 An automatic, adjustable apparatus for use in filling containers of various heights with a fluid from a source of pressurized fluid, comprising, means including at least one adjustable way for receiving, at least one container to be filled with a fluid, means'for sensingthe presence of each said container in said adjustable way, a

nozzle connected to said source of pressurized fluid and.

spaced above each said container, cam means to move each said nozzle towards andraway from each said container, pump means for each said nozzle for pumping a fluid, means for moving each said nozzle down into its respective container and for automatically raising said nozzle to maintain a fixed relationship between said noz-, zle and the fluid level in its respective said container when said container is being filled with said pressurized fluid by said nozzle, and circuit means for, synchronizing the operation of each said pump means and the position of said nozzle while its respective container is being filled thereby.

pressurized fluid source, means for sensing the presence of said container in said adjustable way, a nozzle connected'to said source of pressurized fluid, cam means to move said nozzle towards and away from said container, pump means for said nozzle for pumping a measured quantity of fluid into said sensed container, means for automatically positioning said nozzle with respect to the level of the fluidin said container as said container is being filled with said pressurized fluid, and circuit means for synchronizing the operation of said pump means and the position of said nozzle when said container is being filled thereby.

3. In the combination as recited in claim 2, and means for adjustably mounting said nozzle a fixed distance above said container.

4. In the combination as recited in claim 2, and means for controlling the range of vertical movement of said nozzle with respect to said container.

5. An automatic apparatus for use in filling containers of various heights with a fluid from a fluid source, comprising, mechanism for sensing the presence of a container to be filled with fluid in said apparatus, means including a nozzle for dispensing fluid into said sensed container cam means to move said nozzle towards and away from said container, means for automatically maintaining a fixed relationship between the end of said nozzle,

and the liquid level in said container when said container is being filled with fluid by said nozzle, a pump means for dispensing a measured quantity of fluid into said sensed container, and means for synchronizing the operation of said pump means and the position of said nozzle 1 when said container is being filled thereby.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Schaub June 6, 1961 

